Day: July 20, 2022

Relatively hot weather is expected to prevail on Wednesday in the highlands as temperatures will rise few degrees above seasonal average, reaching a high of 35 degrees Celsius in the Capital, Amman, during daytime, according to the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD).

In the late afternoon and evening hours, cooler weather is forecast as mercury levels slide to around 20, the JMD said.

The Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and the gulf city of Aqaba are set to swelter in scorching weather with temperatures surpassing the threshold of 40C, the department predicted.

Mercury levels will slightly drop on Thursday, with relatively hot weather prevailing in the heights and the plains, while it will be hot in other regions. Winds will be northwesterly moderate to brisk, the JMD noted.

On Friday, temperatures will rise again, bringing scorching weather in the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and Aqaba, while it will remain relatively hot in the highlands and the plains, the meteorologists further added

Source: Jordan News Agency

Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region late Tuesday reported a confirmed bubonic plague “Black Death” case in the capital city Yinchuan, according to local media sources.

Ningxia initiated a Level-IV emergency response for plague prevention and control starting 11 p.m., demanding efforts to fully treat the patient and implement comprehensive prevention and control measures.

A study published in the scientific journal “Nature” explained the source of the Black Death in fourteenth-century central Eurasia.

In addition, a research team from the University of Stirling in Scotland, Germany’s Max Planck Institute and University of Tubingen has analyzed ancient DNA samples from the teeth of skeletons in cemeteries near Lake Issyk Kul, in Kyrgyzstan.

Plague is a potentially lethal infectious disease that is caused by bacteria called Yersinia pestis that live in some animals – mainly rodents – and their fleas. The bubonic plague is the most common form of the disease that people can get. The name comes from the symptoms it causes – painful, swollen lymph nodes or ‘buboes’ in the groin or armpit.

Source: Jordan News Agency

A Jordanian team has won the third place in the Practice Competition, among other global winners during the Global Finals of Huawei ICT Competition 2021-2022 in Shenzhen, China.

The ICT Competition’s sixth edition attracted 150,000 students from more than 2000 universities in 85 countries and regions worldwide, competing in three categories: Practice, Innovation and Industry.

The Practice Competition includes the Network and Cloud Tracks, which examines students’ theoretical knowledge and hands-on ICT skills as well as their ability to work in a team. Participants are ranked according to their scores in theoretical and lab exams.

Led by their tutor Nijad Najdawi, the winning team included three students Zaid Jarrar, Mais Al-Reem Hawamdeh and Yazan Yacoub from Al-Balqa Applied University.

Peter Wells, Chief of UNESCO’s Section for Higher Education, spoke at the event via a video link, praising the competition’s ability to give students worldwide free access to educational courses and study materials as part of their preparation for the competition.

He expressed hope that UNESCO and Huawei will continue working together to improve the digital skills and technological literacy of global talent, promote balanced and equitable development across regions, and bridge the global digital divide.

Steven Yi, Huawei Middle East President, said, “We congratulate the Jordanian team for winning the third prize at the Practice Competition. The team’s invention reinforces Huawei’s position that technology remains a potent tool to effect positive change and spur socio-economic growth. We will continue working with our industry and academic partners to bring digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world.”

This year’s participants were also the first to compete in a new series of Women in Tech Awards which have been designed to honor the outstanding talent displayed by the young women contestants in the Competition.

Huawei has been committed to supporting women with more opportunities and access to the education and training needed to improve their ICT skills and promote gender equality across the industry.

Huawei hosts the ICT Competition annually to provide students with a platform to compete and exchange ideas, enhance their ICT knowledge and practical skills, and foster their capabilities to innovate by using new technologies and platforms.

After making it through the national and regional competitions, the teams faced off in the largest global finals yet.

The Huawei ICT Competition is one of several CSR initiatives by Huawei to nurture talent for Middle East youth. Together with the Huawei ICT Academy, the Huawei Innovation Competition, Seeds for the Future program, joint university labs, and other initiatives, thousands of young people in the region benefit from an advanced skills development pipeline every year, equipping them with the necessary skills to lead digital transformation and development efforts within their country.\

Source: Jordan News Agency

Major Mohammad al-Khlaifat, Head of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit at the Public Security Directorate (PSD), has been announced as one of the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report) Heroes.

United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken handed the award to 188 entities and individuals, including al-Khlaifat, during the 2022 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report Launch Ceremony.

The event is held annually by the U.S. Department of State in the capital Washington DC to honor outstanding entities and individuals worldwide.

The award was the fruit of the Unit’s efforts in the last year in combating this increasingly growing phenomenon and in appreciation of procedures it has conducted, such as an agreement with NAUA platform – a Crown Prince Foundation initiative.

This development of the Unit, initiated in 2013, was due to the merging of the PSD’s departments in implementation of royal directives. The Unit operates within four main axes: prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnership and international cooperation.

Al-Khlaifat said the award highlights Jordan’s human and moral role and legal duty in fighting crime and protecting human rights.

“I dedicate this award to my homeland, Jordan, His Majesty King Abdullah, and His Highness the Crown Prince, whom we consider a role model for the ambitious youth,” he added in remarks during the event

Source: Jordan News Agency

The total area of buildings licensed in the first five months of 2022 dipped by a slight 0.1 percent to 2.952 million square meters (sqm) from 2.458 million sqm in the same period of 2021.

The Department of Statistics (DoS) said Wednesday that the number of new building licenses issued in the January-May period also declined by 14.4 percent to a total of 8,624 licenses compared with 10,072 licenses in the same period of last year.

Similarly, the area of buildings licensed for residential purposes decreased by 6.2 percent, to 2.444 million sqm, against 2.606 million sqm during the same period last year.

As for buildings licensed for non-residential purposes, their area jumped to about 508,000 sqm, up by a major 27 percent, compared to about 350,000 sqm for the same period last year.

Buildings licensed for residential purposes accounted for 82.8 percent of the total area of licensed buildings, leaving 17.2 percent for buildings used for non-residential purposes, according to the DoS.

In its geographic breakdown of the data, the department said that the central region of the Kingdom accounted for 64.9 percent of the total area of licensed buildings, followed by the northern and southern regions at 24.5 and 10.6 percent, respectively

Source: Jordan News Agency

Tourism income during the first half of 2022 soared by 242.7 percent to USD2.1 billion compared to the figure reported in the same period of 2021 due to tourist numbers increasing by 1.4 million to 1.9 million.

The latest data issued by the Central Bank of Jordan showed that Jordanians’ expenditure on travel hiked by 121.7 percent in the first half of 2022, amounting to USD618.2 million against the same period in 2021.

In June 2022, tourism revenue climbed to USD498.3 million, up by 174.6 percent compared to June 2021, driven by an increase in the number of tourists by 270,200, reaching a total of 428,300 tourists.

Data showed a rise in Jordanians’ expenditure on travel last June by 61.8 percent compared to June last year, hitting USD148 million due to a 58.7 percent increase in outbound tourists

Source: Jordan News Agency

A new study has urged decision makers in Jordan to pursue targeted interventions to alleviate the Kingdom’s water scarcity problem.

The Economist Impact Analysis, commissioned by UNICEF Jordan, highlighted the need to increase water supply, optimize water use, and create an environment conducive to efficient water investment.

In particular, the Kingdom needs to augment water supply through desalination, improve the water network, enhance wastewater treatment and harvest rainwater, according to the study conducted in collaboration with The Economist.

Muhammad Al-Duwairi, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation’s assistant secretary general for strategic planning, told a ceremony Wednesday launching the study that water scarcity not only affects education, the economy and lifestyle, but has a far-reaching impact on the society’s wellbeing.

Country representative of UNICEF in Jordan, Tanya Chapuisat, underlined the link between water scarcity and children wellbeing, saying: “Water scarcity is a threat for children and it is a child’s right to have a secure source of water”.

Chapuisat urged stakeholders to make changes in policy and practices to resolve this issue, hoping this report will start a conversation that will lead to change in the society.

The key findings of the study were presented by a representative from The Economist in the form of an infographic brochure that was handed to all attendees and is available online.

The magazine’s representative explained the objectives of the study which included educating policy makers and the general public about the impact of water stress.

It also sought to model the impact of growing water stress on social and economic outcomes in Jordan.

Lastly, the study aimed to highlight the role and impact of policy and programs in reducing the impact of water stress in Jordan.

The findings articulated the impact of water stress on the agriculture, service and manufacturing sectors in Jordan.

According to the study, agriculture contributes about 5 percent to Jordan’s GDP but consumes more that 50 percent of the country’s freshwater resources.

The Economist representative said the role of water in manufacturing is less direct than in agriculture but still uses a significant amount of water in production processes.

The findings revealed shortages of water and increases in operational costs in the tourism sector in periods of water stress.

The study showed water scarcity as a cause of food insecurity in Jordan. It was reported that food supply adequacy in Jordan has declined from 125 percent in the mid 2000’s to just 117 percent, which is among the lowest in the region.

It was reported that children are more vulnerable to water-related diseases and malnutrition which can impact their development, educational and earning potential.

For young adults, it was reported that absence from work and school due to disease and inadequate WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) facilities limit economic activity and productivity.

Female primary school enrollment rates in the kingdom have dropped to 80 percent as of 2018 and according to the study are predicted to decline more due to water stress by 2030.

Jordan is among the top three recipients of refugees in the region. According to the report, an inflow of migrants and refugees creates an additional demand for water.

The study suggested that political instability could be a future cause of water insecurity in the country. Jordan is a downstream country which obtains 40 percent of its water supply from trans-boundry basins, leaving it heavily dependent on cooperation with its upstream neighbors

Source: Jordan News Agency

Renewables accounted for 26 percent of Jordan’s energy production in 2021, while natural gas accounted for 73 percent of the country’s total power output, down from 80 percent in 2020.

Shorouk Abdel Ghani, Director of Institutional Development at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said Wednesday that the total installed capacity of renewable energy projects was approximately 2,445 megawatts in 2021, with 1,498 megawatts being the capacity of projects from which electric power is sold to electricity companies.

She noted that 947.6 megawatts came from non-commercial renewable energy systems owned by individuals and institutions.

According to a Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources report, the average amount of natural gas used to generate electricity last year was approximately 340 million cubic feet per day

Source: Jordan News Agency